Because You're Pretty
by TwistedSky
Summary: Tess/Dinah at Chloe/Oliver's wedding. Sometimes you find love in unlikely places.


Disclaimer: Not mine. This is really just my way of getting rid of obstacles in the way of Chlollie. Plus, I have a huge soft spot for Tess. I want her to seek redemption, and find it.

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"There was a time when I thought it would be me, too."

Tess Mercer looked away from the blushing bride, and her doting husband of mere hours. "What are you . . . I'm sorry. Dinah?" She wasn't sure exactly why Dinah had chosen her, of all people, to talk to at the wedding reception.

"The one and only." Dinah sat down next to her at the round table. The rest of the guests were currently dancing away, or congratulating Oliver and Chloe on their marriage.

Tess watched Oliver dab a bit of cake on Chloe's face, then lick it off, with a look of pure bliss on his face. _He was happy._ She watched as Chloe laughed, and leaned into him, and smiled as she kissed him.

Tess looked away at that.

"I'm not surprised, you know. Oliver's quite the catch, isn't he." Tess stated with a hint of sarcasm, and a hint of regret.

Dinah merely smiled, and moved a strand of her brown wig away out of her face. "Yes, but as one of the few people who've managed to catch him, I think you know that even better than I do. All I did was flirt shamelessly with him over email."

Tess sighed, looked around, spotted the happy couple, and took another drink of her champagne.

"I didn't manage to keep him though."

Dinah laughed softly, "You wouldn't have wanted to after a while. He's not for you, he never was. He's damaged, and flawed. Chloe makes him whole. And he does the same for her. You two . . . You would have just kept hurting each other."

Tess realized that she was right. It still hurt. In fact, Dinah's astute observation served merely to make her heart squeeze, painfully. Surprisingly, though, not as painfully as she had thought it would. Coming here, to their wedding. She thought fleetingly that maybe she just wanted to find someone, that maybe it wasn't about Oliver at all . . .

Dinah, seeing half a dozen emotions cross Tess' face, decided to interrupt her thoughts.

"You know, I have to wonder. How exactly did the amazing Tess Mercer, former lover of the groom, enemy of more than half of the people here, manage to score an invite to this little soiree?" Dinah changed the subject, less than gracefully.

Tess nodded her head in thanks, and smiled. "Let's just say, if it weren't for me, this little shindig might not have happened for another few _years_. Both of them can be a little slow on the uptake."

As Dinah waited, and sipped her drink, she waited to see if Tess would elaborate.

Tess thought of how she'd endangered Chloe's life, of how Oliver had leaned in, as if to kiss her forehead and say goodbye, and had warned her to stay away from his friends. She had realized, quickly, that he really meant that she needed to stay away from Chloe.

She hadn't done so, and had been trapped in Watchtower with her. They'd almost died. And for some reason the most reasonable thing she'd been able to come up with was to goad Chloe, and make her realize that she wanted to let Oliver in. Or, more likely, let him realize he was already there. In her heart.

She then realized that Dinah was still staring at her, expectantly. "Let's just say I earned a place here. And, since I died and came back to life, I've been trying to right some past wrongs."

Dinah smiled. "We've all made mistakes, and if we didn't give others the right to atone for theirs, then we wouldn't have truly earned our own redemption, right?"

Tess suddenly became incredibly aware of how closely she was sitting to Dinah. _She has a beautiful smile._ Tess caught her breath, where had that thought come from?

Tess realized how attractive the woman sitting next to her was. Years ago she'd . . . experimented a bit with women. And yes, she'd enjoyed it, and even now, occasionally she would have a fling with a beautiful, feisty woman. She really enjoyed those times, and sometimes, when she'd had a particularly good night, she'd considered switching teams. After all, her track record with men was less than stellar.

Dinah lifted an eyebrow, almost as if she could hear her thoughts. As if, somehow, she knew the dirty thoughts-the image of a naked, smiling Dinah- that had begun to run through her head. As if, maybe, she could sense the heat that Tess was beginning to feel building inside of her.

Tess met her eyes, and felt Dinah start to . . . Caress her thigh. At that she broke contact. She looked down and saw Dinah's hand stop, and in that moment she made a decision. She looked back up, and smiled, knowingly.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

Dinah smiled, "You read my mind."

Years later, when Tess turned to Dinah and asked her why she'd chosen her, Dinah had merely chuckled.

"Because you're just so damn pretty."

Tess had smiled, and turned back to her sleeping position.

Tess had felt Dinah move closer to her, and begin to cuddle. Cuddle may have been a word that was barely recognized in her vocabulary before Dinah, but now its reality seemed to be a common occurrence.

When Tess and Dinah had come together years ago-Tess had thought it was only a one night stand. But after that night, Dinah had pursued her. She had used the increasing physical attraction that Tess had felt for her to worm her way into her bed. Then, she'd somehow ended up in her heart, too.

Later, Dinah had told her that she'd had a bit of a crush on her for a while. The night of the wedding she'd decided to make her move. She'd promised herself that if she'd ever gotten a chance at love, that she wouldn't let it go.

And so she hadn't. Tess turned around in Dinah's arms, looked into her lover's eyes and said, "I love you too."

"I know."

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_Review please?_


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